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Turtle herpes outbreak hints at Great Barrier Reef contamination

IT’S a turtle tragedy. Tumours are crippling an increasing number of green sea turtles on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

The affected animals have a turtle-specific herpes virus that causes fibropapillomatosis – a condition in which disfiguring tumours grow on and inside the body. Those can block vision and increase risk of other infections, says Karina Jones at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. Her team’s surveys this year shows that in parts of the reef as many as half of the turtles have these crippling tumours.

“We think there must be some external trigger that causes the tumour development,” says Jones. Turtles in healthy marine environments can still carry the virus, but it often lies dormant with no symptoms. The next step is to try to pin down the pollutants responsible.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Turtles in trouble”